Overview

Feel the romance of a classic Venetian experience with a serenaded gondola ride through Venice’s famed canals, capped off by dinner or lunch at a renowned local eatery. Settle into a traditional gondola boat for a 35-minute ride through the Grand Canal and some of the city’s smaller waterways, while onboard musicians provide a passionate soundtrack of Italian ballads. Savor an authentic Venetian meal at the top-rated Hostaria Ai Coristi Restaurant to conclude your enchanted evening or afternoon tour.

35-minute Venice gondola ride with serenade plus a meal

Share a ride on the Grand Canal and glide down smaller canals

Listen to a musician and a singer serenade you aboard one of eight gondolas in your flotilla

What To Expect

The quintessential Venetian experience of a serenaded gondola ride is so beloved by visitors that tours are likely to sell out weeks in advance. Book ahead so you don’t miss out on the ride of a lifetime!

Choose from an afternoon or evening departure, and then make your way to the launch point near the Grand Canal. Climb aboard a traditional polished wooden gondola, which comfortably seats six passengers. These beautiful handcrafted vessels used to be one of the primary modes of transportation for Venetians centuries ago, and their craftsmanship is a time-honored tradition.

Settle in for the ride as your gondolier skillfully navigates the boat along Venice’s famous Grand Canal using a long wooden oar. Admire the historic homes, palazzos and cathedrals that line the canal as you travel along with a flotilla of several other gondolas. Head through some of the city’s smaller canals where you’ll pass under bridges and get a glimpse of quieter, charming backstreets. Adding to the enchanting atmosphere, a skilled opera singer and musician (usually an accordion or guitar player) will ride aboard one of the gondolas in your group and serenade you with classic Italian ballads.

At the end of your 35-minute ride, disembark at the picturesque Campo Santa Maria del Giglio and make your way through romantic alleyways to the nearby Hostaria Ai Coristi Restaurant. Savor a two-course meal including a fish or meat entrée served with house wine, water and coffee.

Please note: If you choose a 3:30 pm departure, your meal can be either lunch (served before the gondola ride between 12pm and 3pm) or dinner (enjoyed after the ride between 7pm and 9pm).

Reviews

Viator Traveler's Reviews

3.5

622 Reviews

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kkhan111

, Oct 2018

When we arrived at Gondola place to be seated, they put us with two other couples. I told Gondola person, it supposed to be only two of us, not with two other couples, they did not care.Bad experience.

Read the fine print on this one. You are better off getting a gondola when you get there. We arrived 20 minutes early as instructed and stood in a very long line of people all booked on the 6:30 gondola ride. We missed the first set of boats and didn't get on until 7:20. By then it was already dark. There were 4 of us and we shared the boat with another couple - so six total. There are not even 6 seats. One couple gets the best seat by the gondolier. My husband and I faced each other with interwoven knees on little stools and we are short. My sister had a stool in front of us and her husband sat on the wood part of the front of the boat. Our gondolier did not serenade us. At the very end of the boat ride somewhere way behind us somebody was singing who we could barely hear. We were so close to the couple next to us they spilled a whole glass of red wine on my husband's white pants. It definitely isn't the romantic gondola ride you envision having in Venice.

Do not go on this Gondola Serenade scam!!!! We arrived early were first in line. Many employees looking sick and tired or working smoking, talking and having a good time. People would approach them asking about where to go for the 7:30 pm ride very Rudely pointed to a long line on the side. When we finally were asked for our tickets and pointed to a Gondola. We were boarded like cattle and told to sit. Looked like their were about 6 Gondolas, we were the first out then the others followed. Had 1- singer in on the 4th Gondola singing to just the Gondolas behind us. The tour was roughly 20 minutes they went around in a circle and it was over. I had purchased Gondola and dinner when we arrived I asked what about the dinner was pointed again very rudely to make a right. Fortunately I put the address on my GPS and arrived. The restaurant was the best part. The food was very good and the friendliness of the staff. Would never use this company again but would definitely eat at the restaurant.Stay away!!!!!!!!!

This was an awesome evening, the Gondola ride was very nice, the restaurant was tricky to find but once we arrived we were welcomed with smiles and were treated very very well, unlike some of the other reviews they were nice and service was superb. It was a night to remember. Highly recommend this tour.

The actual ride is about 15 minutes or less. Unless you are lucky enough to have teh serenade in your gondola you will NOT hear him. Place were the meal was set up when you present the voucher very limited menu. SAVE your money do not do this. Alot of money for what you get.

I gave this 3 stars only because Viator would not allow you to submit with anything less. I would not recommend this tour. They packed 7 gondolas with 6 people in each one and in only one they had a person serenading. The rest followed and we listened. Also our gondoliers were talking in Italian amongst each other consistently. The dinner later was ok. But the portions were very small and no dessert. Very disappointing for the amount charged. I would have paid less if I did a private gondola ride.

I will start by saying that the people in charge of the gondola ride were very nice and helpful in telling us where to go for supper and the supper was fabulous! The gondola ride itself was not what I expected. We were packed in with six of us sharing the ride. The serenade was one of the six or eight boats and we couldn’t hear it for most of the ride. It also lasted shorter than what was stated.

It was the best way to see Venice. We had the good luck of having the accordion player and singer in our gondola, it was so much fun. They had amazing personalities and really entertained us. We then had a very romantic dinner and the dinner was delicious. It was delicious and was not a limited menu which was also nice. Our only complaint was that we got lost finding the restaurant. In the future, a map provided to the patrons would be nice so people don't get lost finding the restaurant.

Not at all what was promised. We arrived at the meeting point and found a line to the Gondolas, looked for our tour contact and was eventually told we could ride the gondola with our printed voucher, so we stood in line, about 20 minutes and were put on a gondola, we were in dress clothes and they filled the gondola to the point we had to sit on the steps. Thankfully we rode the gondola earlier in the day on another Viator tour and thoroughly enjoyed it, because this would have soured us on Venice. We were the lead gondola and somewhere about 6 gondolas back there was music, but we could only hear it when we were on the Grand Canal in a straight line because we were so far ahead of the music we would loose it. This was about a 20 minute gondola ride, exactly what you get for 40 Euros for a family of 4 if you walk up, stand in line and pay the Gondola. After the Gondola ride we asked about dinner and no one seemed to know where to go or anything about it. I called the company on the voucher and the number was disconnected. We never found the restaurant and ended up eating at another wonderful restaurant. Don't waste your money on this tour.

The Venice Gondola Ride and Serenade was the highlight of our Venice vacation! The 5 stars are for the Gondola ride with Serenade ONLY...NOT the dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant after the gondola ride, we presented our Viator voucher receipt to the manager/waiter. He was rude, very skeptical and accused us of giving him a Fake receipt. He wanted the voucher which the gondola ride operator had already taken PRIOR the gondola ride. He was extremely unpleasant, making us feel as though we were there for a free meal even though we paid for it several months prior when we booked this event. The waiter claimed I never received an Email from Viator about you/this reservation. After bickering with him, he finally decided to seat us. The food was fair, nothing that we would ever return to with all of the many wonderful restaurants in Venice. While eating, another couple entered the restaurant, and we witnessed the same cold reception and accusation of a Fake receipt, when they also presented their post gondola ride receipt voucher. He gave them such a difficult time, the young girl was almost reduced to tears. We intervened on their behalf and the waiter finally relented and decided to seat them as well. Viator should NOT USE the current restaurant, HOSTARIA AI CORISTI, for dinner with this tour. STOP using a restaurant that appears to be failing based on the lack of patrons inside and outside when most of the other restaurants were filled to capacity, low quality of food, and waiter/manager rude, ungrateful, and almost ruined our wonderful experience. The serenade gondola ride was great, the professional singer and musician we had was wonderful...book the other tour WITHOUT the dinner!! It is less expensive and you will not regret it.